Urban planning

20 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building, Sustainability, Environment Reading Time:  15 minutes

Plan of an ideal city of 100 000 inhabitants by Jean-Jacques Moll from 1801

Plan of an ideal city of 100 000 inhabitants by Jean-Jacques Moll from 1801

Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks and their accessibility. Traditionally, urban planning followed a top-down approach in master planning the physical layout of human settlements. The primary concern was the public welfare, which included considerations of efficiency, sanitation, protection and use of the environment, as well as effects of the master plans on the social and economic activities. Over time, urban planning has adopted a focus on the social and environmental bottom-lines that focus on planning as a tool to improve the health and well-being of people while maintaining sustainability standards. Sustainable development was added as one of the main goals of all planning endeavors in the late 20th century when the detrimental economic and the environmental impacts of the previous models of planning had become apparent. Similarly, in the early 21st century, Jane Jacob‘s writings on legal and political perspectives to emphasize the interests of residents, businesses and communities effectively influenced urban planners to take into broader consideration of resident experiences and needs while planning.   read more…

Expo 2020 Dubai

24 January 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Dubai, Energy, Building Automation, Intelligent Buildings, Museums, Exhibitions, Sustainability, Environment Reading Time:  20 minutes

© expo2020dubai.com

© expo2020dubai.com

Expo 2020 is a World Expo to be hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, opening on October 20, 2020. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris awarded Dubai as the host on November 27, 2013. In November 2019, the UAE permitted Israeli passport holders to enter the country during Expo 2020. Israelis are allowed to have their own pavilion at the event and to even visit the country afterwards.   read more…

The Shed in Manhattan

1 September 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, House of the Month, Intelligent Buildings, Museums, Exhibitions, New York City Reading Time:  6 minutes

Architect's rendering © Diller Scofidio + Renfro/cc-by-sa-3.0

Architect’s rendering © Diller Scofidio + Renfro/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Shed (formerly known as Culture Shed and Hudson Yards Cultural Shed) is a cultural center in Hudson Yards, Manhattan, New York City. Opened on April 5, 2019, the Shed commissions, produces, and presents a wide range of activities in performing arts, visual arts, and pop culture.   read more…

Smart City

22 April 2019 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Design & Products, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building, Sustainability, Environment Reading Time:  26 minutes

© flickr.com - Wilgengebroed/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Wilgengebroed/cc-by-2.0

A smart city is an urban area that uses different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is used to manage assets and resources efficiently. This includes data collected from citizens, devices, and assets that is processed and analyzed to monitor and manage traffic and transportation systems, power plants, water supply networks, waste management, law enforcement, information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services. The smart city concept integrates information and communication technology (ICT), and various physical devices connected to the network (the Internet of things or IoT) to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services and connect to citizens. Smart city technology allows city officials to interact directly with both community and city infrastructure and to monitor what is happening in the city and how the city is evolving.   read more…

Business Bay in Dubai

8 April 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Dubai, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  8 minutes

Downtown Burj Dubai and Business Bay, seen from Safa Park © Robert Luxemburg

Downtown Burj Dubai and Business Bay, seen from Safa Park © Robert Luxemburg

Business Bay is a central business district under construction in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The project features numerous skyscrapers located in an area where Dubai Creek will be dredged and extended. Business Bay will have upwards of 240 buildings, comprising commercial and residential developments. The infrastructure of Business Bay has been completed in 2008, and the entire development is expected to be completed between 2012-2015. Business Bay is part of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Ruler of Dubai. Business Bay will be a new ‘city’ within the city of Dubai and is being built as a commercial, residential and business cluster along a new extension of Dubai Creek extending from Ras Al Khor to Sheikh Zayed Road. Covering an area of 64,000,000 square feet (5,900,000 m2), once completed it will comprise office and residential towers set in landscaped gardens with a network of roads, pathways and canals. It will become the region’s business capital as well as a freehold city. There will be over 230 towers in the Business Bay district.   read more…

The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

1 April 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, House of the Month, Intelligent Buildings, Sustainability, Environment, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Aboluay/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Aboluay/cc-by-sa-4.0

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is a private research university in Saudi Arabia. The University’s core campus, located on the Red Sea at Thuwal, is sited on more than 36 square kilometres (14 sq mi), encompassing a marine sanctuary and research facility. The university is 20 km away north of the King Abdullah Economic City. KAUST is part of a small number of highly planned, specialized, research and technology-intensive municipalities in the world that incorporate a living environment, similar to Masdar City in the United Arab Emirates or Tsukuba Science City in Japan.   read more…

Theme Week Abu Dhabi – Masdar City

23 March 2016 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Architecture, Design & Products, Energy, Building Automation, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building, Materials, Sustainability, Environment, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  15 minutes

© fosterandpartners.com

© fosterandpartners.com

Masdar City is a planned city project in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. Its core is being built by Masdar, a subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the Government of Abu Dhabi. Designed by the British architectural firm Foster and Partners, the city relies on solar energy and other renewable energy sources. Masdar City is being constructed 17 kilometres (11 mi) east-south-east of the city of Abu Dhabi, right beside Abu Dhabi International Airport. Masdar City will host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The city is designed to be a hub for cleantech companies. Its first tenant is the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, which has been operating in the city since it moved into its campus in September 2010.   read more…

King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia

23 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  8 minutes

Overview @ kaec.net

Overview @ kaec.net

King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is a megaproject announced in 2005 by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then king of Saudi Arabia. With a total development area of 173 km² (66.8 sq mi), the city is located along the coast of the Red Sea, around 100 km north of Jeddah, the commercial hub of the kingdom, the city will also be approximately an hour and 20 minutes away from the holy Islamic city of Mecca and 3 hours from Medina by car and an hour away of all Middle Eastern capital cities by plane. The total cost of the city is $86 billion (around SR 207 billion), with the project being built by the Tadawul-listed company Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based public joint stock company and one of the world’s largest real estate companies, and SAGIA (Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority) which is the main facilitator of the project. The city is divided into six main components: Industrial Zone, Sea Port, Residential Areas, Sea Resort, Educational Zone, and a Central Business District (CBD) which includes the Financial Island.   read more…

Songdo International Business District in South Korea

2 September 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Green Buildings, Green Technologies, Intelligent Buildings, Living, Working, Building Reading Time:  9 minutes

Songdo International City © Swlee8851/cc-by-sa-3.0

Songdo International City © Swlee8851/cc-by-sa-3.0

Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD) is a new smart city or “ubiquitous city” built from scratch on 600 hectares (1,500 acres) of reclaimed land along Incheon‘s waterfront, 65 kilometres (40 mi) southwest of Seoul, South Korea and connected to Incheon International Airport by a 12.3-kilometre (7.6 mi) reinforced concrete highway bridge, called Incheon Bridge. Along with Yeongjongdo and Cheongna, it is part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone. The Songdo International Business District will feature the Northeast Asia Trade Tower and the Incheon Tower. Schools, hospitals, apartments, office buildings and cultural amenities are to be built in the district. Replicas of architectural hallmarks, including New York City’s Central Park and Venice’s waterways, will also be incorporated. This 10-year development project is estimated to cost in excess of $40 billion, making it one of the most expensive development projects ever undertaken.   read more…

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